NCJ Number
223534
Journal
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: 2008 Pages: 210-225
Date Published
2008
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether leading questions were used by 82 Australian police officers in conducting interviews with alleged child-abuse victims.
Abstract
Although the officers refrained from using coercive interview techniques, two problematic types of questions were relatively common. One type of problematic question presumed that an activity/detail had occurred although it had not been previously mentioned by the child. The second type of problematic question included highly specific details about an activity. In previous research both of these types of questions had produced false-event narratives from children being questioned. These findings support the need for better training techniques that will enable officers to avoid using these types of leading questions. The 82 officers (34 males and 48 females) who participated in the study were selected from a number of Australian States. All of the officers were authorized to conduct investigative interviews with children and had completed specialized training for this task. They had conducted an average of 59 interviews with a child under 16 years old since becoming authorized to conduct interviews of children. The officers conducted mock interviews with children ages 5-7 years old. The focus of the interviews was an event staged in the children's school a week earlier. Prior to the interview, each officer was provided accurate and inaccurate information about the event, including details about an activity that did not occur. The officers were asked by the researchers to elicit as detailed and accurate account of the event as possible, using their customary interviewing techniques. 3 tables and 39 references